MMXV

Here is a list of the books I read in 2015:


Germinal by Émile Zola

Coal miners strike.


The Death Of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes

The life of Artemio Cruz.


A Prefect's Uncle by P.G. Wodehouse

A cricket player's life is thrown into disarray by his uncle's arrival at school.


The Woman In White by Wilkie Collins

An art tutor encounters a mysterious woman.


Cities Of Salt by Abdelrahman Munif

An Arab community is changed forever when Americans arrive to drill for oil.


The Good Soldier Švejk by Jaroslav Hašek

A bumbling idiot marches into war.


Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata

A Japanese man begins a relationship with a Geisha.


Under The Dome by Stephen King

A barrier descends on the town of Chester's Mill.


Under The Jaguar Sun by Italo Calvino

Three stories about the senses.


Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

A collection of short stories about the cosmos.


Berlin Alexanderplatz by Alfred Döblin

Franz Biberkopf vows to cease committing crimes.


The Sorrows Of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Werther laments lost love.


The Arabian Nights translated by Richard F. Burton

Scheherazade postpones her execution by entertaining the king with stories featuring Sinbad, Ali-Baba and Aladdin.


Clarissa by Samuel Richardson

A virtuous young woman chooses not to marry the villain who assaulted her.


The Trench by Abdelrahman Munif

A Sultanate built by oil experiences seismic changes in the second book of the Cities Of Salt trilogy.


The Aeneid by Virgil

Aeneas travels to Rome from Troy.


The Last Chronicle Of Barset by Anthony Trollope

A clergyman may have stolen money.


The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower by Stephen King

Roland reaches the Dark Tower.


Beloved by Toni Morrison

A mother and a house is haunted by a slain child.


The Grapes Of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The greatest novel I read this year.


Life Application Study Bible New International Version

The most influential book of all time.


The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

An author divides her experience into four notebooks.


Antony And Cleopatra by William Shakespeare

Antony's love for the queen of Egypt leads to his military defeat.


Washington Square by Henry James

A man disinherits his daughter to discourage her from marrying a gold digger.


The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett

The final Tiffany Aching adventure and final Discworld novel.


The Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton

Newland Archer marries May Welland but desires Countess Olenska.


After Alice by Gregory Maguire

Ada follows Alice down the rabbit hole.


The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

D'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis thwart Milady's plots.

MMXIV

Here is a list of the books I read in 2014:

Jester Leaps In by Alan Gordon

Theopholis marries his apprentice in the second novel of the Fools' Guild Mystery series.

Under The Volcano by Malcolm Lowry

¿Le Gusta Este Jardín?

¿Que Es Suyo?

¡Evite Que Sus Hijos Lo Destruyan!

The Dark Tower VI: Song Of Susannah by Stephen King

Stephen King writes himself into Roland Deschain's quest for the Dark Tower.


The Counterfeiters by André Gide

Bernard runs away from home and becomes the secretary to an author writing a book called The Counterfeiters.


A Death In The Venetian Quarter by Alan Gordon

The Fourth Crusade arrives at Constantinople in the third novel of the Fools' Guild Mystery series.


Star Wars: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn

Han Solo assembles a motley crew to break into an impenetrable safe.


Malone Dies by Samuel Beckett

Malone dies.


The Unnamable by Samuel Beckett

The third book in Beckett's trilogy following Molloy and Malone Dies.


Star Wars: Apocalypse by Troy Denning

Abeloth is defeated in the final novel of the Fate Of The Jedi series.


Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Jean Valjean gives money to the poor and cares for an orphan while evading Inspector Javert.


Women In Love by D.H. Lawrence

Lawrence explores complicated relationships.


Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett

The steam engine changes the Discworld.


Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann

A family falls from prominence.


Fathers And Sons by Ivan Turgenev

Bazarov is a nihilist who dislikes his parents' ideals.


Pére Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

Goriot spends every penny on his daughters.


The White-Luck Warrior by R. Scott Bakker

The army of Anasûrimbur Kellhus continues its march and Drusas Achamian continues his quest in the second novel of the Aspect-Emperor trilogy.


Our Ancestors by Italo Calvino

Three novellas: The Nonexistent Knight, The Cloven Viscount and The Baron In The Trees.


t zero by Italo Calvino

A collection of short stories about the past and future.


Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse

An Indian tale written by a German.


Persuasion by Jane Austen

Anne Elliot breaks off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, then reencounters him eight years later.


The Collected Stories Of Eudora Welty

Includes all of Welty's published stories from A Curtain Of Green, The Wide Net, The Golden Apples and The Bride Of The Innisfallen.


A Damsel In Distress by P.G. Wodehouse

George Bevan rescues her.


Dracula by Bram Stoker

Dr. Van Helsing and a band of brave men drive Count Dracula out of London.


The Eye Of Zoltar by Jasper Fforde

The Mighty Shandar asks Jennifer Strange to find the legendary Eye Of Zoltar in the third novel of the Chronicles Of Kazam series.


A Man Of Means by P.G. Wodehouse

A collection of six interconnected short stories.


Call It Sleep by Henry Roth

A Jewish boy is attached to his mother and afraid of his father.


The Princess Of Cléves by Madame de La Fayette

The titular Princess marries one man, then falls in love with another.


A Dream Of Red Mansions by Cao Xueqin and Gao E
(Translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang)

Jia Baoyu is born with a jade in his mouth and is destined to love Lin Daiyu.


The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli

Machiavelli shares methods to rule men.


The Hero With A Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Campbell compares the hero's journey in myths from every culture.

MMXIII

Here is a list of the books I read in 2013:


The Amazing Maurice And His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett

Pratchett twists the rat piper legend in the first Discworld novel for young readers.


The Ambassadors by Henry James

An American businessman travels to Paris to convince a wayward son to return home.


The Path To The Spiders' Nests by Italo Calvino

An orphan named Pin joins a group of Italians fighting Germans during World War II.

The Last Dancer by Daniel Keys Moran

Occupied America declares independence from the Unification Of Earth in the third novel in the Tale Of The Continuing Time series.


The Big Boost by Daniel Keys Moran

Trent the Uncatchable sabotages his enemy's greatest weapon in the fourth novel in the Tale Of The Continuing Time series.


Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Samuel Vimes travels to the past and mentors his younger self.


The Castle Of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino

Travelers tell tales using Tarot cards.


Complete Stories And Poems by Edgar Allan Poe

Standouts in each category include The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Raven.


Star Wars: Ascension by Christie Golden

A powerful, ancient being ascends to the highest political office in the penultimate novel of the Fate Of The Jedi series.


Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

The unnamed narrator, living underground, recounts his struggle with society.


A Passage To India by E. M. Forster

An alleged crime reveals prejudice between the natives and British Imperialists.


The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

The Nac Mac Feegle help Tiffany Aching rescue her brother from the Elf Queen.


The Golden Ass by Apuleius (Translated by Jack Lindsay)

Lucius experiences many misfortunes after a magic ointment transforms him into an animal.


Star Wars: The Last Jedi by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

Jax Pavan rescues a resistance leader in the fourth novel of the Coruscant Nights series.


Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett

A female poses as a male to join the military and discovers she is not the only one.


Year Zero by Rob Reid

Aliens violate Earth's copyright laws and pay the price.


Nostromo by Joseph Conrad

Giovanni Battista Fidanza is trusted with securing the silver of the San Tomé mine.


The Awakening by Kate Chopin

Edna leaves her family to find herself.


A Hat Full Of Sky by Terry Pratchett

Tiffany Aching defeats a powerful foe with help from Granny Weatherwax and the Nac Mac Feegle.


Going Postal by Terry Pratchett

Moist Von Lipwig revives the long defunct Ankh-Morpork postal service.


Finnegans Wake by James Joyce

Joyce invents words and rhymes in a challenging book with no beginning or end.


The Dark Tower V: Wolves Of The Calla by Stephen King

Roland of Gilead and his ka-tet protect a town of farmers from child-nabbing marauders.


Thud! by Terry Pratchett

Samuel Vimes discovers a secret hidden in a painting which could end a recurring battle between Dwarfs and Trolls.


We Are What We Pretend To Be by Kurt Vonnegut

Promoted as his first and last works, this collection includes a short story that was never previously published and the unfinished novel he was writing when he died.


Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett

Tiffany Aching becomes the avatar of spring to fight the spirit of winter.


Molloy by Samuel Beckett

Molloy travels through the woods toward his mother while another man travels through the woods toward him.


The Prisoner by Thomas M. Disch

A former spy awakens in a mysterious village.


On The Road by Jack Kerouac

Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty drive across America.


Making Money by Terry Pratchett

A reformed con artist is given charge of the Royal Bank and Mint.


The Song Of The Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde

The second book of the Chronicles of Kazam.


The Man Without Qualities by Robert Musil

The Parallel Campaign celebrates Austria's emperor.


Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett

The wizards at Unseen University play football.


I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett

Tiffany Aching struggles as the newly appointed witch of the Chalk.


The Republic Of Thieves by Scott Lynch

Former friends lead opposing political factions in the third novel featuring con artist Locke Lamora.


Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

John Rokesmith arrives in town shortly after John Harmon's body is recovered from the river.


Native Son by Richard Wright

Bigger Thomas commits murder.


Snuff by Terry Pratchett

Samuel Vimes and his wife vacation at her family's estate in the country.


Othello by William Shakespeare

Dishonest Iago sows distrust between Othello and Desdemona.


Star Wars: Choices Of One by Timothy Zahn

The Rebel Alliance searches for a new base of operations.


In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

The true story of a terrible crime.

Into The Millennium

I read The Man Without Qualities, Volume One by Robert Musil.

Ulrich graduates from a private school, joins the military, quits the military, becomes an engineer, then a mathematician. Now thirty years old, he returns to his home town where his father, a well-respected government official, has secured a job for him on the board of a committee to plan a celebration, called the Parallel Campaign, of the Austrian Emperor's 70th anniversary.

Ulrich's distant relative, Diotima, is also on the committee. She has big ideas and wants to infuse the Parallel Campaign with them. Diotima's servant, Rachel, is thrilled to be part of a household where such important people visit and eavesdrops on the meetings.

The first meeting of the Parallel Campaign begins with controversy because Diotima invites a Prussian named Arnheim without anyone's knowledge. Placing a foreigner on the council expands the breadth of the Campaign beyond Austria's borders. Vice Count Leinsdorf suggests 'Emperor of Peace' as a symbol, in contrast to Germany's imminent war machine, and gives an opening address. Diotima opens the floor for discussion but no one speaks nor understands what is involved in planning an historic event.

Bogus rumors that the Parallel Campaign is accomplishing great things reaches Ulrich's father who implores him to convince Count Leinsdorf to promote certain legislature. Leinsdorf rarely reads the literature important to the Parallel Campaign and calls the council vain and useless because it accomplishes nothing. Ulrich does not want to admit that his and Diotima's grand ideas are impossible to attain.

Ulrich's childhood friend, Walter, is a musician and painter who never reaches his potential. Clarisse attaches herself to Walter because of his genius and marries him. Though not as naturally gifted as Walter, she drives herself to learn to paint and play music and now plays better than he. Walter accuses his wife of being in love with Ulrich, naming him a man without qualities. She denies it but admits to herself that her light shines brightest when Ulrich is near. She accuses him of being jealous of Ulrich's talent, tells him she doesn't want to be with him and leaves. Ulrich returns home that same night and sees his lights are on. He suspects a burglar but finds Clarisse. She tells him she wants to be with him but he rejects her.

Ulrich receives a telegram that his father has died. He rises early the next morning and goes to the train station.

Musil died before he completed Volume Two. In it, the Parallel Campaign plans a world peace congress. Ulrich withdraws from the council to settle his father's estate. His sister, Agathe, is introduced and Clarisse is institutionalized.

First, Last and Most...Always

I read An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser.

Clyde Griffiths achieves independence from his street preaching parents when he secures a position at a hotel in Kansas City. There, his co-workers introduce him to a life of freedom and debauchery. He is involved in a fatal hit and run accident and flees to Chicago.

Clyde secures a job at another hotel and his rich uncle arrives as a guest. He introduces himself and asks for a job at his uncle's collar factory in Lycurgus, New York. His uncle has reservations, but because of a debt he feels he owes his brother, relents. Clyde is given an entry-level, labor-intensive position but intends to work his way up. His Lycurgus relatives want little to do with him socially though he is promoted to the head of a stamping department to protect their stature within the company. It is clear that Clyde should not socialize with the girls working for him but he desires the newly hired Roberta Alden. He pursues her and they begin a clandestine relationship.

A local girl named Sondra Finchley invites Clyde to social events to irritate his relatives. He is introduced to other socialites, invited to more parties and his spot in the Lycurgus social scene is cemented.

Sondra plans a trip to Twelfth Lake and Clyde desperately wants to go but he must stall Roberta because she is pregnant and demands he marry her immediately.

Sondra loves him and tells him that once she turns eighteen, later in the year, she will marry him. Clyde is elated and determined to escape his situation with Roberta. He develops a plan to lure her to Big Bittern Lake and fake a double drowning. Then, he will hike to Twelfth Lake and pretend he has just arrived. Clyde rents a boat and rows to a remote location but cannot summon the courage to drown Roberta. She sees the conflicted look on his face and moves toward him. Clyde, startled from his reverie, strikes her in the face. He rises to aid her but his movement overturns the boat. He recognizes his plan has come to fruition and swims toward the shore while Roberta drowns.

Roberta's body is found quickly and the bruises on her face indicate foul play. A letter addressed to her mother announcing her plan to marry Clyde is found in her pocket. The district attorney secures a warrant to search Clyde's home and finds scores of letters from Roberta and Sondra. The investigators arrive at Twelfth Lake a few days after the drowning and arrest Clyde.

At trial, the prosecution presents testimony which, combined with the letters found in his apartment, piece together Clyde and Roberta's relationship from beginning to end.

Clyde takes the stand as the only eye witness to Roberta Alden's death and testifies that he took her to the lake to tell her about his love for Sondra and beg her to release him from his responsibility. He struck her accidentally and the boat capsized. He saved himself and notified no one of the accident because he is a coward.

Clyde is convicted and sentenced to death. The appellate court denies retrial and the governor refuses to remit his punishment. He finds peace with his Creator before he is executed.

Clyde's nomadic parents, living in Denver now, continue to preach and sing hymns on the streets.


Dreiser conveys pathos for Clyde Griffiths despite his actions. He wishes to improve his position because he feels inferior to those who are, by birth, wealthier and better connected. His path toward the American dream is blocked by his untimely entanglement with Roberta and diverts toward tragedy.

MMXII

Here is a list of books I read in 2012:


Only You Can Save Mankind by Terry Pratchett

If not you, who else?

Darth Plagueis by James Luceno

Palpatine's master.

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

The second Dickens novel I have read.

Jingo by Terry Pratchett

Ankh-Morpork and Klatch go to war.

Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

Chichikov hatches a morbid scheme to get rich quick.

The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass

Markos the dwarf drummer recounts his strange life.

Nation by Terry Pratchett

When much is taken, something is returned.

The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Times change in Sicily.

Caine's Law by Matthew Stover

Caine time travels to unhappen all the bad things that have happened to him.

The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett

Rincewind travels to the continent of XXXX.


Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov

Laziness and lethargy lead Oblomov to ruin.


Fate Of The Jedi: Conviction by Aaron Allston

Little occurs in the seventh novel of the series.


Petersburg by Andrei Bely

The pioneer of the suspense novel. A bomb inside a sardine tin is set to explode in less than 24 hours.


Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

Modern Vampyres invade the peaceful kingdom of Lancre. The title is roughly translated as: Go For The Throat.


Pride And Prejudice by Jane Austen

The eldest Bennet sisters marry money. 


The Dark Tower IV: Wizard And Glass by Stephen King

On the path to the Dark Tower, Roland tells his ka-tet about events that changed his life.


Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This hilarious collaboration spoofs apocalyptic prophecies.


Rabbit At Rest by John Updike

Rabbit's heart fails.


The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett

Sam Vimes solves a mystery in Uberwald.


Emerald Eyes by Daniel Keys Moran

A group of telepaths are created, then destroyed in the first volume of the Tales of the Continuing Time series.


The Red Badge Of Courage by Stephen Crane

A young soldier experiences war.


Lord Of The Flies by William Golding

Stranded boys devolve into savages on a deserted island.


Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Imperialism challenges the customs of a village and its most valiant warrior.


The Truth by Terry Pratchett

The Discworld's first free press stirs controversy.


Decline And Fall by Evelyn Waugh

Paul Pennyfeather is expelled from school, teaches public school, escapes prison and re-enrolls in school.


The Last Of The Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper

Chingachgook, Uncas and Hawkeye protect the Munro sisters from a vengeful Huron chief named Magua.


Vineland by Thomas Pynchon

Zoyd Wheeler jumps through glass windows to qualify for social security benefits.


Thief Of Time by Terry Pratchett

A castoff from the guild of clockmakers creates a clock which will stop time. The History Monks rush to stop him.


The Woman Who Died A Lot by Jasper Fforde

Thursday Next returns to Swindon to thwart the Goliath company's latest machinations.


The Last Dragonslayer by Jasper Fforde

Jennifer Strange is destined to slay the last dragon.


Dodger by Terry Pratchett

A sewer dwelling street urchin saves a damsel in distress, rises above his class and inspires Charles Dickens.


The Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald

An unfinished novel about Hollywood Studios.


The Long Run by Daniel Keys Moran

Trent the Uncatchable evades authorities on earth, the moon and beyond in the second volume of the Tales of the Continuing Time series.


The Life Application Study Bible (New International Version) by Various Authors

History, holy scripture, poetry, prophecy and wisdom literature fill the greatest and most influential collection of writings in human history.


Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Charles Ryder recounts his friendship with the Marchmain family.


Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan

The retail business is a front for a secret society whose members decipher codes found in a selection of books borrowed from the store.


The Road by Cormac McCarthy

A father and son walk toward the coast after an apocalyptic event destroys most life on earth. I listened to the audio book.


Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck

George and Lennie dream of owning a farm and living off the fat of the land. The second audio book I listened to this year.


An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser

Clyde Griffiths plots to murder a poor girl who blocks his path toward an affluent lifestyle.


The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett

A Discworld fable illustrated by Paul Kidby.


The Beekeeper by Maxence Fermine

A dream of honey and gold sends Aurelien Rochefer to Africa and back.

Et In Arcadia Ego

I read Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh.

Charles Ryder meets Sebastian Flyte at Oxford and becomes friends with him and his family. Sebastian's parents are separated. His father, Lord Marchmain, lives in Venice. His mother, Teresa, and siblings live at the family estate called Brideshead. His mother is a devoted Roman Catholic and will not divorce her estranged husband.

Sebastian is arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and spends a night in the clink. His drinking becomes worse and his family's attempts to chaperone him fail.

Sebastian travels to Morocco and drinks himself sick. Charles delivers news that Teresa has died but he shows no reaction. He joins a monastery but remains addicted to alcohol for the rest of his life.

Charles quits Oxford, attends art school and becomes an architectural painter. More than ten years later, he divorces his wife and plans to marry Sebastian's sister, Julia, who is separated from her husband.

Lord Marchmain becomes ill and returns to Brideshead to die. He bequeaths the estate to Julia instead of his eldest son, Lord Brideshead. Moved by her father's deathbed reversion to Catholicism, Julia ends her taboo relationship with Charles.

Charles joins the military, revisits Brideshead and reveals a surprising secret.